I was standing side stage waiting for Of Mice and Men to finish their set. Austin has been texting me a lot and we’ve been hanging out. He just wants to make sure I’m okay.
I sensed someone behind me and turned around. Mike was rocking on his feet with his hands buried deep in his pockets. “Hey,” he said quietly.
“Hi,” I breathed.
“I wanted to see how you’re doing,” he informed me.
“Do you have permission from Vic?”
“What do you think?” he laughed.
“I’m sorry, Mike,”
“What for?”
“Everything,” I shrugged.
“I know you are, Lyssa,” he sighed. “You know I’ve always forgiven you. And after looking back at things I don’t think it was entirely your fault,” Mike explained.
“I’m sorry too,”
“Thank you,”
“You’re not off the hook, not at all,” he added.
“I know that,”
“But I’ve spoken to Jaime,”
“How is he?” I asked urgently.
“He’s rough. I haven’t seen him like this for a while. I think he kind of misses you,”
“Then why doesn’t he tell me?” I asked desperately.
“Because he knows how pissed Vic is. Even I don’t want to cross Vic right now,” Mike replied. “Did you like him?”
“I still do. You want to know the reason why I slept with all those guys? It was because Jaime rejected me because of what you and Vic would think,”
“Come here,” Mike breathed. He put his arms out for me and I walked into them. He hugged me tightly and I felt him kiss my head. “You need to wait it out,” he told me. I reached up and kissed him on the cheek.
“Hey, man,” Austin said and I pulled away from Mike. I smiled at Austin and he nodded back.
“Hi,” Mike smiled.
“Do you still want to hang out?” Austin asked.
“Yeah, I do. Come on,” I urged. “See you later,” I told Mike.
“Bye, Lyssa,” he sighed. I walked away with Austin and we started towards Of Mice and Men’s bus.
“You okay?” Austin asked cautiously.
“Well, Mike is speaking to me now,”
“That’s good,”
“Jaime apparently misses me,” I said and saw Austin frown. “What?”
“It just pisses me off, Lyssa. All these people saying how they want you back and how much they miss you, but they’re not doing anything about it,”
“I know,” I shrugged.
“I just need to get changed,” he explained as we walked into the bus. I sat and waited in the front lounge. Austin came back out changed. He was rubbing a baby wipe across his face.
“No venue shower?” I asked.
“No,” he moaned.
“How do you think I feel? Girls have to shower twice as much as guys,”
“Where do you get your information?” Austin laughed and rolled his eyes. I shrugged and we walked out.
“Catering?” I offered.
“Sure,” he nodded. We started walking but Austin stopped me when we heard raised voices. Behind a wall by catering I peered around and saw a small crowd. Mike and Vic were in the middle of it with Jaime, Tony, the rest of Of Mice and Kellin and Gabe from Sleeping. “Stay here,” Austin told me.
“Not likely,” I rolled my eyes. Austin sighed and I followed him over to the group.
“What’s going on?” Austin asked and pushed his way to the front.
“It’s nothing,” Vic said stiffly.
“They’re arguing about how Vic’s been treating his sister,” Alan filled in.
“You took advantage of her, Al’. You could at least use her name,” he snapped. I saw Mike tower over Vic and Vic’s hand crunch into a fist.
“Do something!” I called to Austin. I heard him sigh and he got in between Mike and Vic.
“Move, dude,” Vic spat.
“No,” Austin replied firmly. “Not until you’ve calmed down,”
“This is nothing to do with you,”
“It is. Since I’ve had to sit there and comfort your sister after you’ve upset her,” he explained. I saw Mike grab his hair and go for Vic.
“Move!” I yelled. I got to the front and grabbed Mike’s arm.
“Let me go,” Mike breathed deeply.
“No, you need to cool down. Come on,” I said and tried to pull him away.
“You’re treating her like shit all because people are taking crap about her. You know she isn’t a whore,” Austin growled.
“She is a whore,” Vic replied dangerously. Austin turned away to look at me, shook his head and started to laugh.
“That isn’t true,” he spat.
“She slept around. That’s what a whore is,” Vic growled. Then Austin turned around and punched Vic hard on the nose. I heard a crack and saw blood start to gush over his face. “Fuck, Austin!”
“Have you ever asked her why she did it?! She fucking loved Jaime and he told her no because of what you’d think! She was hurting. She’s always been hurting and that’s how she copes! She sleeps with guys that don’t care about her! Didn’t you used to cut?! Or have you forgot the things people do to take away pain?!” Austin yelled.
“Austin, man!” Alan said and tried to pull Austin away.
“Don’t touch me! You and Oli took advantage of her!” he spat and rounded on Jaime. “And as for you, you told her you loved her. You gave her hope and called her beautiful. Then you take it all back because of some asshole! What kind of a man are you?!” he growled.
“Lyssa,” Vic gasped and looked at me.
“I’m sorry,” I choked out.
“Mike that way!” Austin ordered and pushed Mike one direction. Jaime, Phil, Tino, Aaron and Gabe followed him. “Vic go the other way! And I daresay you should that nose looked at,” he spat. Kellin and Tony pulled Vic away in the opposite direction and Alan followed them.
“Thank you,” I breathed. Austin looked at me and pulled me into a hug.
“I’m sorry,”
“No, you did the right thing,” I told him. “Thanks, Austin,” I said and looked up at him.

Notes

Hey! Super intense drama here! An actual fight :p what did you all think? Did Vic deserve it? Is Mike back on good terms with Alyssa? What will Vic do? Two chapters left everyone! :)